Penn talks about facing Kansas on Thursday

Q. Darnell, could you just talk about now you're out here, you're in this environment. Just what this feels like to you?

DARNELL FOREMAN: Like I've been talking about before, it's a dream come true. We got in last night. We're just enjoying everything. It's been a lot of stuff going on, a lot of excitement around us, around the hotel. And we're just excited. This is a great feeling being here.

Q. All you guys, obviously, Kansas is Kansas. You played Villanova. Can you tell me what you learned from a game like Villanova that could maybe come into play even a little bit?

AJ BRODEUR: Yeah, so throughout our year, we play -- obviously we play Villanova every year. They're a great team, just like this Kansas team we're about to play is.Getting that experience to play against teams that operate at such a high level with the incredible amounts of talent that they have, I think that prepares us for games like this. We spend our whole year preparing for our postseason, the Ivy League Tournament and then obviously the NCAA Tournament. And I think throughout that learning process we have of playing against those teams like Villanova, it's only getting us better and more prepared for games like this.DARNELL FOREMAN: More or less just matching our energy and again finding ways to get stops. That's key in order to compete with a team of this magnitude.MATT MACDONALD: Yeah. I'd also say that I think we're a better team than we were at the beginning of the year, like you were mentioning, playing Villanova. So I think it's all about just how we've continued to get better throughout the season, and like AJ was saying, just hopefully we've improved enough and we're very confident in ourselves and just excited to play a great team like Kansas.

Q. For AJ and Matt, what do you think the biggest misconception of Ivy League basketball players?

AJ BRODEUR: I think people under estimate how tough and how hard we play. You know, obviously the Ivy League schools are known for their high academics. And getting -- when you think more about that, you start to think about how maybe they're not as tough as the other teams that they play.But I think that the league we play in is some of the greatest games we play all year. We play a lot of non-conference games and in-conference games, and I think it's clear that the ones we play in-conference are some of the toughest, hard-nosed games that we play all season.MATT MACDONALD: Yeah. I would just add just what it takes to win a championship in this league. I'm not sure if people around the country -- you know, we play back-to-back games every Friday, Saturday.So just the level of energy, skill level, and toughness it takes to play a game Friday night and then turn around and play another game Saturday, and also having to play those games on the road, going to play Dartmouth on a Friday night, turning around having to go play Harvard, traveling that night, it's not like we're flying charters or something. It's obviously a challenge, and night in and night out I think it proved throughout the year that any team in this league can win a game.So it's certainly a challenge, and it's one that we're very proud to represent the Ivy League on this stage.

Q. For any of you guys, you have one of the best three-point defenses in the country in terms of your three-point percentage and running teams off the line and disallowing those sorts of shots. Obviously Kansas said that's one of their strengths, being able to shoot from the perimeter. Is that something that you guys think you can use to your advantage, and how do you think you match up with Kansas in terms of being able to defend the three?

AJ BRODEUR: I think that's something we try to do every game, no matter who we're playing. Our main goals are to limit the three-pointers taken by flying around, making the shooters activate their dribble, start to get to the hoop and then guarding at the rim without fouling, forcing long contested twos are ideal for our defensive system.And I think that as long as we stick to our principles and we stay focused and we stay into our game plan, I think that's what's going to help us in our game tomorrow.DARNELL FOREMAN: Just to piggyback off of AJ, like the way the game is played now, a lot of teams emphasize the three-point line, and it's big because, you know, obviously it's more points.So our focus is just to limit those things, like AJ has been saying, and force teams into taking tough twos and contested twos, hopefully to knock off their balance a little bit.MATT MACDONALD: Yeah, like both these guys said, definitely just trying to run teams off the line, and like they were saying, just doing everything with a great amount of energy and just toughness. You can say all that and have that as your philosophy, but if you don't play hard to a certain extent and really try and execute the game plan, it really means nothing.So we've definitely tried to focus on that all year. That's been one of the strengths of our team so far.

Q. For AJ, Darnell and Matt, a lot of people are surprised that you guys were a 16 seed because of what you've done this year. Were you guys disappointed in that or were you expecting better?

AJ BRODEUR: I'm going to say we were a little surprised by it, but at the same time we're excited. Like that's an opportunity for us. All season we've been kind of counted out. We've been underappreciated, I think, in our league, and I think that as time goes on, we're able to prove more and more of what we're capable of doing, and I think this is just another example, and we're going to just try to go out there tomorrow and show what we can do.DARNELL FOREMAN: I mean, he pretty much said it all. We're just happy for the opportunity, you know. Playing against Kansas is a great team. So we're just going to come out there and just play as hard as we can play.MATT MACDONALD: Yeah. They both really said it. I mean, the only thing I would add is we were picked fourth in our league, so really being counted out is nothing new for us. It's not something that we actively talk about that much. But it's something that's definitely, you know, we're all aware of it.But, yeah, like they were saying, we're just excited for the opportunity just to go out there and compete tomorrow and hopefully play at a high level.

Q. Just talk about defending Devonte' Graham, Big 12 Player of the Year, and maybe people that you've seen up to this point that remind you of Devonte'. For any of you.

AJ BRODEUR: Yeah. Like I said before, we're going to be sticking to our main defensive principles, run them off the line, make sure there's no wide-open catch-and-shoot threes, guarding him at the rim, making sure he has no open layups, especially, because we know he's good at getting into the foul line. So throwing our hands up, jumping back is going to be huge this game in defending him.As for players we've guarded like him, I can't -- I know at Villanova they've got some great guards. We play them, like I said, every year. That's the closest I can think of a Devonte' Graham-like player. But he's his own unique beast, and we're looking forward to being able to guard him and the Kansas team tomorrow.

COACH DONAHUE: First of all, it's great to be in Wichita. And I mean that. It's great to go to a place where you can tell the level of excitement is so genuine for the NCAA Tournament. This doesn't happen everywhere, and for our guys to experience this and the level of excitement that exists is second to none, and when I saw we were going to Wichita, I was really happy. I wasn't happy when I saw we were going to play Kansas. But I was happy to be in Wichita and really excited for our opportunity.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Steve, could you talk about Antonio Woods' role in this game, especially defensively, and also Devon Goodman, because I'm assuming that those guys are going to see Graham a lot?

COACH DONAHUE: So Antonio Woods is someone has a great story like a lot of our guys, but he misstepped academically, and instead of hanging his head where kids may want to transfer, our school asked him to take a year off, go get a job.He worked night shift at Temple University, seen some pretty gruesome stuff, probably raised his level of understanding of how great of opportunity he had, took it, learned from it, and now I think it's an elite defender, and not just in our league. You're talking about a kid who was a Division I football player, great athlete. Can defend multiple positions. And obviously we're going to need him with all the athleticism and the quickness that they present from the perimeter, Antonio is someone for sure that we can hopefully rely on.Dev Goodman is another great athlete, a track star in high school, someone that I think is a little different from myself, having guys with some really good athleticism, and I think that's why you see us going at the three so well. We have the ability to keep the ball in front. So we don't have to overhelp. And then we close out on shooters aggressively.

Q. Can you talk about your familiarity with Bill Self and especially your team when you were a coach at Cornell?

COACH DONAHUE: So we scheduled Kansas on that -- our third run of championships in the Ivies thinking we can challenge anybody, if anybody wants to play us. And that's part of the difficulty when you're good.I appreciated, one, that Bill gave us the opportunity to play in Kansas, and then that experience, I thought, was the main ingredient for that team to have great success in the NCAA Tournament.With that, Bill and I have become very friendly. That game was an incredible basketball game. And I said this story before, I thought we played well, and the first thing he said after the game is he thought his guys played well, which to me was great to hear; that it wasn't that they laid down and weren't ready for us. And I felt the same way.And when we left the arena, the Kansas fans gave us a standing ovation. And that doesn't happen in Philadelphia or the Northeast very often. I thought the amount of respect they had, and I was kind of stunned, and our guys just kind of waved and appreciated it.And I appreciate, as I said, Bill giving us the opportunity, knew we were good. And then just what he's accomplished over the last 14 years in the Big 12 is amazing. And now just watching the film of his team and his evolution as a coach, going from let's get our bigger, stronger guys, play double low-post offense and now their style of play, spread you out and beat you a whole different way, just tells you how great a coach he is. And the ability to adjust and evolve as a basketball coach is to me very impressive.

Q. You're allowing 29 percent from the three, which is excellent. Kansas relies on that a lot. How do you produce those defensive results against Kansas?

COACH DONAHUE: Obviously they're going to present as much problems as anybody we play, probably with the exception of Villanova. It's how we build our defense, and we like to take advantage of the three, and we don't want to give up those threes. So I think the thing that makes us a little different for this level is that we have some athleticism in our guard spots. We have good length, move laterally.So typically you get threes three different ways. You give up penetration, and then you allow -- you gotta help. We do that pretty well. You give them up in transition. Now, we're not a great offensive rebounding team, but we have great floor bounds and we locate quickly.And the last way, offensive rebounds when you're in a scramble situation. So we're Top 10 in the nation in defensive rebounding. So we limit you in that sense.Kansas with Graham, Vick, anybody they do such a good job of the pace they play at, the ability to go by. And then you have the big, you're worrying about the rim protection and trying to stop that. And then to me it's their attitude. They're ready to shoot 'em, and we're going to be tested.Can't tell you. We're going to work really hard. But I do feel good that our approach in how we play defense is built to guard what they do well, and then who does it better tomorrow.

Q. Coach, this obviously won't be the same as Allen Fieldhouse or the Palestra, which you just had an advantage there. Right? Last week or whatever. So how do you navigate this, though, with knowing it's in Kansas and it could be a pro KU crowd?

COACH DONAHUE: So we had nine true road wins, which I think is one of ten teams in the country. May have to check that on me. But very few. So we challenged ourselves on the road. Like all of our teams in our league do, really. I'm hoping -- isn't there non-Kansas fans in Wichita? Can't we get a few on our back a little bit if we get it rolling? I'm kind of hoping for that (laughs).But our guys, I mean, as a competitor, you just love that environment, really, and I think we have a veteran team. If you think about our squad, we start a fourth-year senior, a fourth-year junior, a typical junior and two sophomores that played a lot of minutes. We have a fifth-year senior in Caleb Wood that comes off the bench.I just think it's all part of it. It's not Fog Allen. It's not the Palestra. And I've been in this environment in the NCAA Tournament. I do sense that there's seven other schools here, and six of them are probably rooting for us.It's just the way it is when you're the underdog. And I think our guys will actually enjoy that challenge and just the fun of silencing the crowd, if that's need be.

Q. At Cornell you took three straight teams to the NCAA Tournament, but it took you till that third year to break out. And in that respect, how does that relate to this trip and how much of this trip is building toward the future?

COACH DONAHUE: For the future? Just to answer that part of it, no. This is for now. I want this badly, and particularly for our seniors. This is something they can dream about and live this memory forever.What I learned the first couple of years at Cornell is that I made mistakes. I probably overdid it with all this attention and worried about where my guys were, where their heads were. There was attention to detail, and I sense that we played really tight those first couple of years. I let that go that third year, and we had a loose group, if you remember, kind of silly, and I -- there was a part of me that worried at that point, but I let it go.I want these guys to embrace everything that this NCAA Tournament is about. I want them to enjoy the attention, have fun with each other. This is what college basketball is all about. There's a lot of negativity that exists right now. I think you guys, if you take in our players and see the joy that they play with and they enjoy each other's company, I think that's what we're trying to have fun with.When it comes to business, private practice, attention to detail, they'll be fine. They'll get it. But I want them to play loose tomorrow. I always talk about, are you willing to make mistakes? Are you willing to embarrass yourself? Because that's how you're going to make great plays and win. If we're able to do that, then that gives us our best chance.

Q. Udoka Azubuike, Coach Self said, could only be used in emergency situations. How do you prepare since they've had so few games without him? And in looking at tape, do you tend to look more at the Oklahoma State tape since they beat him? So about Azubuike and the tapes.

COACH DONAHUE: Azubuike is a monster, there's no doubt. In some ways I hope there's an emergency situation, some ways I don't. He puts so much pressure on your defense because, one, I think Graham is very comfortable with him, and there's so many that ball screen, middle of the floor, two shooters, one shooter, you make one mistake on him, come up a little too high, it's two points.And with our guys, we show them, we talk about how we gotta play, fundamentally sound in every ball screen, and there is a difference between him and the other two bigs they play.We talked about it. I can't overdo it, because he's one impressive player, and they are much better on the floor when he's in the game. There's no doubt. So we just kind of talk about him, can't make a mistake here, here's why, and then address everything else that we're talking about.